1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system, and in particular, to operating partitions in a data processing environment. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a system, and computer usable program code for addressing a workload partition.
2. Description of the Related Art
Workload partition is a technology that allows separating users and applications by employing software techniques instead of forming separate hardware partitions. In other words, a data processing system can be so configured as to allow one or more virtual partitions to operate within the data processing system's operating system. Such a virtual partition is called a workload partition, or WPAR.
A WPAR shares the operating system and resources of the host data processing system. Resources accessible to the operating system of the host data processing system are said to belong to a “global space”. In other words, a resource in the global space can be accessed by the operating system of the host data processing system.
An application executing in a WPAR may use the WPAR as if the WPAR were a complete data processing system. The application executes in the WPAR without the awareness that the WPAR, and consequently the application, is sharing resources in the global space of the host data processing system. More than one WPAR may share resources in the global space.
A WPAR is configured, started, operated, and eventually terminated in a host data processing system using resources in the global space. Resources utilized by the WPAR during these various stages remain visible, available, and accessible to the operating system of the host data processing system.
WPARs are commonly employed for separating applications, functions, or functionalities from one another. The separation may be desirable for a variety of reasons, such as security, performance, portability, or administrative concerns.
For example, a desirable feature of a banking application may be to separate the back-office functions from the web-user functions. Such a separation may be achieved by implementing the back-office functions and the web-user functions in a manner that they can be executed on different WPARs.
A WPAR can be addressed over a network just like a complete stand-alone data processing system. In other words, each WPAR in a host data processing system and the host data processing system itself can have unique network address. Thus, a host data processing system with several WPARs configured thereon appears as a collection of network addresses on a network as if a distinct data processing system is associated with each address.